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ACADEMY: South African Tour Update

17-Dec-2012

The Sussex Cricket Academy have been continuing their tour of South Africa over the past week and have been in a rich vein of form as they look to gain maximum experience from the trip.

After victory in the opening game of the tour against Bishops College in Rondebosch, they secured back-to-back victories against Western Province u15’s and Western Province Southern Suburbs, with the games played at the Newlands Oval (Vineyard Ground) and Primrose Cricket Club at Kenilworth respectively. The stand out performances were from Fynn Hudson-Prentice (101* v Western Province u15’s) and Elliot Hooper with 5-12 v Southern Suburbs. There was also some outstanding fielding and catches with Ben Shoare, Elliot Hooper and Dominic Keats all featuring here.

The fourth match against Western Province u17B proved a more challenging affair with the home side scoring 185-8 in their allotted 50 overs. Green Point CC – next door to the Cape Town FIFA World Cup stadium in 2010, proved a most beautiful setting with the players enjoying the game under a cloudless sky, Wian Engelbrecht top scored for the home side with 51 off 101 balls. The pick of the bowlers for the Academy being Josh Hayward (2-29) and George Garton (2-14).

The WP team’s fielding was exemplary – with Shoare brilliantly caught at short mid-wicket in the first over without a run on the board. The Academy batsmen were put under pressure from the start with some hostile fast bowling and had lost Joe Ludlow before the team total had reached the 20’s.

Ollie Graham (23) and Keats (15) steadied the ship with a partnership of 45 before they were both out with the score still under 100. Lower batting order scores from Charlie Hodgson (21) and Leo Cammish did well under continued scoreboard pressure when but when their wickets had gone there was little resistance from the tail, with Sussex failing to overhaul the home side’s total by 38 runs.

There will be more news from South Africa over the next couple of days as the Academy took on Western Province Cricket Association u19B and a Northern Suburbs Invitational XI. You can follow the progress of the Sussex Cricket Academy on Twitter by clicking HERE